The Battersea Arts Centre (often abbreviated to "BAC") is a performance space near Clapham Junction in Battersea, London which specialises in music and theatre productions.

It is best known as "The National Theatre of the Fringe" a venue where new productions are first performed and honed prior to tours or possible transfers to the theatres of the West End.

BAC pioneered the "scratch" methodology as part of its "ladder of development" for new work, where performances are shown at various stages of development to an outside audience, whose input and criticism guides the further evolution of the work.

Founded in 1980 in a Grade II listed building which originally opened in 1893 as the Battersea Town Hall and converted to a community arts centre in 1974, the building was designed in 1891 by E. W. Mountford. It currently receives a grant towards the building's operating costs from the local Wandsworth Borough Council.

David Jubb is the organisation's artistic director. David is one of subsidised theatre's most respected producers and is a pioneer of 'creative producing' in the industry. Creative producing underlines BAC's artistic philosophy and, as such, has been the basis of creating one of theatre's most ground-breaking artistic programmes.

The venue takes part in the annual London International Mime Festival.

tags: london, theatre

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